Eye of the Beholder
by Eragon the Shinigami
Summary: Of all enemies that he's made, there's only one that the Dark One's always regretted making. Someone that he only intended to assist in her quest for vengeance, but instead created a monster. When she arrives in Storybrooke for revenge, secrets that Mr. Gold and others prefer to remain hidden are revealed. OUAT AU, takes place before RWBY Volume 1.
1. Chapter 1: Revelation

I own none of the characters. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP); Once Upon a Time belongs to ABC studios and both Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis.

* * *

Chapter 1: Revelation

Mr. Gold's Pawnshop

Storybrooke, Maine, Present Day

Legends, stories scattered through time, Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts of a forgotten past. The Dark One knew how true this was as he sat behind the counter of his pawnshop, the dark-suited man closely examining the small Olympian Crystal that he had obtained the day before. He knew that soon he would use the crystal to wake up his beloved wife from the sleeping curse she had put herself under while they were in the Underworld, all he needed was the right opportunity to do so. Mr. Gold knew that he didn't need to worry about whether or not he could wake Belle up; after all, with all the power of previous Dark Ones he was the most powerful Dark One in all of eternity, no one besides the Saviour, Emma Swan, could possible keep the devious man at bay. It was as he thought out this that the Crystal accidentally slipped from his fingers and fell to the carpet below. Sighing in relief that it didn't break - then again, it was an Olympian Crystal, it probably wouldn't break - he bent down to pick up the crystal, only for his fingers to slip around something else.

 _That's odd, something must've fallen earlier when I was looking for the box_ , the Dark One thought to himself as he lifted up the object in his hands to see what it was. It was a vial with a mouth smaller than the spherical bottom, like most of the other vials that he used, but what stood out to Mr. Gold was what was contained inside, along with the piece of parchment attached to the cork on the vial. Within the vial was a dark red liquid, so dark that the liquid was almost black in colour. The piece of parchment was attached to the vial by a small piece of rope, but what made him realise where it was from was the symbol drawn onto the parchment itself, an elegantly drawn eye printed with red ink.

"Hmm, so that's were it was all this time," Mr. Gold thought aloud in dark remembrance as he recognised the vial, and what was inside.

 _How could I forget_ , the Dark One thought to himself as he examined the vial, _there truly is only one who could best me_.

Indeed there was, for while Mr. Gold knew that he was one of the most powerful beings in existence, there was one person, just one, who could certainly claim truth that she bested him. Some might believe that said person was Cora, but Mr. Gold knew that neither she nor her two daughters would be able to come that close, the three of them had even admitted that they couldn't. No, there was one who held that title, someone that used to be one of his apprentices, and was now was one of his worst rivals, someone who now despised his very existence.

He could hear her voice now, echoing words that she shouted when he abandoned her all those years ago, the words ringing in his mind, "You can't run from me forever, Dark One...you better be ready for we will meet again, and when that time comes you won't be able to escape defeat like you've done for so long...one day, Dark One, and I can't wait for that day to watch you burn for what you've done!"

 _Looking back, it would've been better to have never met her_ , Mr. Gold thought to himself as he picked the Olympian Crystal back up, _if I didn't then I would've never created the monster that I did_.

Mr. Gold could honestly acknowledge that it was one of few things he regretted doing, one many dangerous enemies that he could've done without, as he looked back to when and where it all began.

* * *

Unnamed Nomadic Village

Remnant, Many Years Ago

The young twenty-three year old woman ran through the woods as the cruel men chased her through the darkness. For most of her life she had been an outsider in her own village, ever since her parents died when she was a baby. The villagers that chased her now acted in hatred towards the girl since then, called her bad luck due to her name, which they believed was responsible for the death of her parents. Even the other orphans in the village avoided her, preferring to not be associated with someone who was now accused of being a witch. As the girl ran, she cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her earlier that night, causing the semblance that she kept hidden for ten years to lash out and injure one of the men chasing her. She knew that she shouldn't stop running, for if she did they would catch her and have her burned at the stake.

It wasn't like it was extremely rare to have an aura and a semblance, nor did anyone in the village not know about something like that. In fact, the reason why this orphaned woman was being chased down was due to the horrid, unnatural nature of her semblance itself. The brown-haired girl could hear the shouts of the men, indicating that the men were getting close. _I must keep running, must keep running_ , she chanted over and over in her mind as she ran through the trees for her life. She could swear that she could see things out of the corners of her green eyes, eyes of beasts hidden in the woods, moving statues, a man in a red cloak, but she paid them no mind. _Must not let them catch me, must not let them catch me_ , she thought to herself, panic spreading through her as she heard the shouts getting closer.

Without warning a tree stump filled her vision, and before she could react she tripped over the stump. The woman cried out in pain as she landed, glancing down to find her ankle twisted from the fall.

"Over there, I heard someone scream!" she heard one of the villagers cry out, and the girl knew that she was done for.

Before long she was surrounded by the five villagers that were chasing her, five burly men that argued with her at the town pub.

"There she is, the little bitch," the leader growled as two of them yanked her up on her feet, causing her to cry out in pain again.

When one of the men asked what they should do to her now that they had her, the leader chuckled and replied, "Well, the mayor did put a bounty on her after she ran, but that doesn't mean to say that we should bring her back in one piece."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," one of the grunts holding her interjected, "maybe we should have some fun with her first."

The other men whistled in reply, but the leader calmed them down and stated, "Na, she'd probably blast us into oblivion if we tried that; no, I think we should set up a stake and burn her here and now!"

As the men laughed in agreement and proceeded to pull out some rope, childish laughter was suddenly heard from all around them.

"I hate to crash the party, but I couldn't help but ask what you were doing to the poor lady there," a stranger's voice spoke up from behind the villagers.

As the villagers turned to face the newcomer, the girl could make out what she saw in the dark; a short man wearing a blood red cloak with an enormous hood.

There were gasps of shock and surprise, and the young woman heard one of the grunts shout, "It's him, it's the Dark One!"

 _So the Dark One does exist_ , the girl thought to herself, _but why is he interested in what these men are trying to do?_

"Aye, that would be me," the dark One, for it was such, replied in an almost childlike voice, "now if you could answer my question that would be nice."

"This orphan is a witch, a monster like yourself," the leader of the villagers grumbled in reply, "she will be burned at the stake."

"Oh really?" the imp inquired, a curious tone in his voice, "And why is she accused as a witch?"

"She attacked my friend with black magic similar to your own," the leader answered in anger, "she caused dark figures in the pub to strike him down where he stood."

"No need to tell me that, I assure you I was there," the Dark One interjected, "and how do you know that it was indeed black magic, and not something as simple as her semblance; surely there are others in your village that have an aura and a semblance, do they not?"

"Enough, I have had enough bargaining with you devils and witches," the leader growled as he unsheathed his sword, "now stand aside and leave us be, so we can continue our execution!"

"Oh, but I haven't shown you the actual difference between semblances and magic, dearie," the Dark One snarled as he revealed a dagger with many curves in the blade in his hand, "this here, this is black magic."

Before anybody could react there was a puff of black smoke as the Dark One magically teleported behind the two grunts holding the young woman. With a wave of his hand an invisible force pushed them off of her, sending the two men into a nearby tree with a loud crack.

As the two villagers fell to the ground dead, the leader growled at the robed man in disgust and said, "How dare you, Dark One?"

"Really, that's the best you come up with?" the Dark One asked with a hint of darkness in his voice, "It might as well be that I kill you all!"

With that he teleported again, this time in front of another villager, whom he proceeded to slash open their throat before teleporting to do the same elsewhere. Again and again he teleported and either broke the villager's necks or slashed open their throats. Soon the leader of the group was the only one of the villagers left alone, finding himself unable to move due to terror as the Dark One helped the poor young woman to her feet.

As the robed man glanced over to the villager, the two could hear the terrified man ask, "A-are you going to kill me too?"

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you," the Dark One growled, "at least, not yet!"

Before the defenceless man could even move, he cried out in pain as the Dark One ripped out the leader's heart.

"What shall happen, however," the robed man stated as he held the glowing red heart up, "is you're going to walk back to that village now, and you're going to tell them what you saw here tonight; then, you shall get what you deserve."

The man, seemingly unable to control his actions, turned around and started walking back the way they came.

When the villager disappeared, the Dark One turned to the woman and said, "No need for you to return the favour, I'm sure there's nothing you have that I need."

"But I can't go back there, not after what happened," the woman stated in protest, concerned as to what would happen now.

"Exactly, which is why you're coming with me, dearie," the robed man said, and then continued, "so, I'm sure you would like to know my name."

"Yes, that I wouldn't mind," she said as she leaned sideways to read the name on the Dark One's Dagger, "but exactly do I even pronounce that name if it's what's written on the dagger?"

"Allow me to help you with that," the Dark One said as he made an exaggerated bow, "the name's Rumplestiltskin, now I believe you tell me yours."

"I prefer to be called Sally," the woman replied, pain glazing over her eyes, "I hate my actual name, my parents thought it was a lovely name for me to have, but the other villagers said my very name is bad luck, especially after they passed away not long after I was born."

Rumplestiltskin laughed and then asked, "Oh, it can't be that bad; and what, dearie may I ask, is your real name?"

The young woman was silent, and the Dark One was sure she wouldn't answer. When she did, though, the Dark One suddenly got a glimpse into the future, and he could tell that this seemingly innocent girl was destined for darkness, a name that he knew that he must have this girl as an apprentice.

She said, "My last name is Wichita, but my first name, my real first name, is Salem."

* * *

 **A/N:** Dun Dun DUN! And that's how you end a chapter.

Hello everybody, my name is Eragon and welcome to my new story, Eye of the Beholder, a crossover of RWBY and Once Upon A Time, featuring everyone's favourite sorcerer, Rumplestiltskin! So, did anybody actually expect the mysterious woman in the chapter to be Salem? Okay, if you did I'm not surprised, but if you didn't, well now you know. If you asked me a month ago who my favourite RWBY villain was, I'd say Neo, but after listening to Divide over and over (to a point of obsession, I'm sure!), along with getting to see her get some plotting done in the beginning of Volume 4, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I find characters like Salem interesting. I always love the villains that are two to three steps ahead of the main characters, the criminal masterminds behind the chaos in any series. Plus there's the air of mystery behind Salem, and the possibility that she is some sort of Hive Queen that makes characters like her interesting.

Speaking of smart villains, is there anyone reading that's a fellow OUAT fan? Now, for those who've got their figurative hands up, who just can't help but love Rumplestiltskin? Yeah, I can't help but love Rumple too, he definitely influences most of the story's within Once, so one day I thought, what if Rumple influenced the history of Remnant, too? Therefore, this little story exists

Anyways, before I go, I'm going to let you guys know that Eye of the Beholder will also be leaving clues for Prophecy until December, like what I'm already doing with the others. So, here's your next clue: the first thing in Prophecy that will be mentioned will be the end of dark times for the White Fang, and the rise of a new organisation known as Horizon, led by a familiar (and obviously bad) Faunus. Go look for the other clues.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and you know what to do. Leave a review, favourite/follow, you know the drill. Also, if anybody is capable of being a Beta Reader and wants to do so for this story, send me a PM and we'll see what we can do. Don't forget to read Eclipse, Team MJJK, and RWBY: HHN, if you haven't already, and go looking for those clues for Prophecy. Thanks again for reading, and God Speed!


	2. Chapter 2: Deliverance

**A/N:** Hello everybody, my name's Eragon and welcome to another chapter of Eye of the Beholder. So, I'm not really concerned that much with the first chapter not getting much of a response, but I swear things will get interesting in this chapter.

So, before we get started, this chapter shall have two clues for Prophecy instead of one like normal. I will have the first chapter posted by about December 1st, give or take, so be prepared. Anyways, here's the first of your next two clues: the name of each chapter will be named after some of my favourite songs. Wait until the end of this chapter here for the next clue.

As always, I own none of the characters. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP), and Once Upon a Time belongs to ABC Studios and both Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis. Now go look at some evil banter and the beginning of the story's plot. Sit back and enjoy!

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Chapter 2: Deliverance

Mr. Gold's PawnShop

Storybrooke, Maine, Present Day

As Mr. Gold held the vial in his hands, looking over it for the third time that afternoon, he thought back to when he first met that young woman named Salem. He knew that she looked completely different then from how she looked when he left her all those years ago. Just when he started thinking about whether he should've helped her like he did or not, he shook himself and attempted to remove those pesky thoughts from his mind. _Now's not the time to reminisce about past mistakes,_ the Dark One corrected himself, _what's done is done and can't be undone, right now I need to be thinking about how to wake up Belle_. As he went to set the dark-coloured vail down the bell to the shop rang, and he looked up to see a certain blonde Saviour walking through the door.

"Hey, Gold, mind if we talk for a bit?" he heard Emma say as she walked up to the counter

"If you're going to argue against my decision to use the pirate to gain back my magic, Ms. Swan, you might as well save your breath," Gold declared with a slight glare in his eyes, "it was that same magic that allowed you to get him back, and the same magic that's gonna wake up Belle, therefore, everybody wins."

"Honestly, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about," Emma said, causing Mr. Gold to raise his eyebrow in surprise, "that's already been argued about enough; I actually wanted to ask you about something else."

"Well, in that case," the Dark One breathed as he relaxed and looked the Saviour right in the eye, "ask away."

"Have you noticed how quiet it's been in town lately?" she asked, getting a curious look from Mr. Gold as a reaction, "I mean, the past two months we've dealt with Dark Ones, a crazy king, the God of the Underworld and all the trouble we had down there, but after that's been dealt with it's too quiet."

"Well, of course it is," Rumplestiltskin interjected coolly, "Storybrooke has had quite a bit of action happening here, it's not surprising that you're bored."

"I'm getting the feeling that something's gonna happen, no, I'm actually just wishing something would happen," Emma admitted with boredom clearly heard in the former bail-bonds-woman's voice, "seriously, Killian and Henry are feeling the same way, and so are Mom and Dad, Regina's still upset over losing Robin to care at the moment, I just wish something should happen so that I can actually do something instead of waiting for it to happen."

"I'd be careful what you wish for, Emma, wishing for something like that is just asking for trouble" Mr. Gold said as he looked up at Emma again, only for his eyes to grow wide in surprise at what he saw.

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Emma inquired, noticing that the air in the room began to grow cold as she felt something land on her shoulder, "And please tell me there's nothing on my shoulder right now."

She didn't receive an answer at first, but soon the Dark One slowly pulled out a crossbow from behind the counter and whispered, "Whatever you do, Ms. Swan, don't move."

He saw her grow still, and before he could give her a chance to blink he pulled the trigger, expecting to hit the creature on her shoulder in its chest. The creature flew out of the way just in time, and landed on the counter in front of them, allowing Emma to get a good look at the thing. At first one would think it was just an ordinary black bird, but after seeing its blood red eyes and what looked like a bone mask with red veins over its face one would begin to think otherwise.

They heard the bird caw as it looked them both directly in the eye, tilting its head side to side. It then took off and headed towards the door, but before it could escape the Dark One had shot it in the heart with a crossbolt, killing the curious creature.

As the strange bird began to disintegrate before their very eyes, Emma couldn't take her eyes off of it as she stammered, "W-what the Hell was that thing?"

"That, Ms. Swan, was a baby Nevermore," Mr. Gold began to explain, and before Emma could ask what he meant he continued, "Nevermores are a bird-like monster from a world called Remnant, part of an entire species of monsters known as the Creatures of Grimm."

"Wait, you mean like the Brothers' Grimm?" Emma asked, noticing a connection to the famous fairy tale writers.

"Note exactly, the Creatures of Grimm are much more dangerous," Rumplestiltskin replied solemnly, "in Remnant Grimm are soulless beasts born only to attack anything man, humanoid, or man-made; but that Nevermore shouldn't be here as they can only be found in Remnant, but if it's here, that can only mean one thing."

"Wait," Ema suddenly asked as she noticed that they were in trouble, "am I the only one out of the two of us that's getting the feeling of being watched?"

"No, I can feel someone else here with us," Mr. Gold said as his eyes began to widen from shock, "but that means...we need to leave this shop, now!"

The two began to head to the door, but to no avail. An unseen force slammed the previously open front door shut, locking it into place, and another clicking noise ment that both of their ways out were locked.

A sudden chill went down the Dark One's spine as laughing was heard, followed by a feminine voice saying, "We meet again, Dark One."

Mr. Gold didn't even need to turn around to know who exactly was there, out of the corner of his eye he could see her deathly pale skin glinting in the light, and he could feel her black and red eyes locked onto him with a burning stare, as he quietly said, "Hello, Salem."

* * *

Rumplestiltskin's Castle

The Enchanted Forest, Many Years Ago

Standing in the castle of the famous Dark One was truly a sight to behold for Salem. Yet here she was, walking through the large main room of his fortress, staring at the artifacts held there. Of course, most people in Remnant knew about other worlds like The Enchanted Forest existing, but as far as Salem knew she was the first from her homeworld to visit this new world.

"See anything you like, dearie?" she heard Rumplestiltskin ask, and she turned to see him placing his cloak on a chair nearby.

"What's not to like here, at the very least I'm out of that damned village," Salem replied as she managed to get a good look at the Dark One.

Without his cloak, she could see that he was almost as tall as her, and that nothing besides his reptilian eyes and his golden scale-like skin actually made him stand out.

"Right you are, you don't need to worry about those villagers coming after you when you're in another world," the Dark One said as he waltzed over and asked, "Now, let's get to some business, as I'm sure you were expecting. If what I'm expecting is true and you want revenge on your village, I can help you with that, but it's going to cost you something, for as they always say, all magic comes with a price."

"You're right, I want to get back at them for all the pain they've caused me, and I will gladly give anything in return," Salem declared, figuring that there would be time to regret making any deals later, for making deals with a Dark One is the same as making one with a devil.

"Glad to hear that, so let me give you a price," said Dark One said as he revealed a vial with a rounded bottom, "now, I'm willing to give you the training and power you need for vengeance, and in return you're going to give me one of the ingredients I need to make a curse to find someone I've lost."

"I won't ask who you're looking for since that's none of my business," Salem began to ask, "but what exactly is the ingredient you need?"

"The ingredient you can help me get is a simple one: anger, pure unadulterated rage and pain, and believe me when I say I can sense a lot coming from you," Rumplestiltskin explained, "and how I can contain it is simple.

"All I need is some hair from someone who is filled to the brim with rage, and with a simple spell it sucks out the amount I need and will put it into this vial," the Dark One concluded as Salem listened carefully, considering the options she had so far.

"May I see that vial, if I may ask?" Salem cautiously asked, unsure if he would give an answer she was expecting.

Her feelings were right, for Rumplestiltskin replied, "Oh no, if you want it, you must take it from my hands. Oh, and use your semblance, by the way," he continued before she could ask, "I want to see myself what I'm dealing with."

Salem nodded in agreement, and with hesitation activated her semblance. The smirk on Rumplestiltskin's face was rapidly replaced with a look of surprise as his guest's shadow suddenly extended, and as it reached him an invisible force yanked the vial out of his hands.

"Well, I can see why they were afraid of you," the Dark One said as the shadow brought the vial to Salem's hands, "I'm going to guess that your semblance has to do with controlling the shadows of objects?"

"Not 'has to do with', is controlling shadows," the young woman replied as she examined the vial in her hands, before looking up and asking, "Tell me, Dark One, is there some side effects to having my rage contained in this vial?"

"Of course there is, any magic has some type of side effect," the Dark One began to explain with a hint of amusement, "in this case, stealing rage from someone full of it and cramping it into a container is obviously going to take a chunk out of something belonging to the person the rage came from."

"And what exactly is that 'something' the chunk is taken from?" Salem inquired, beginning to get a bad feeling of what it was.

"Your soul, dearie, it takes a small piece of your soul with it; there will be some physical side effects, and removing a piece of your soul will be irreversible, but from what I've heard removing parts of one's soul can make one difficult to kill and doesn't make them less powerful," Rumplestiltskin replied, noting the surprisingly calm look on the girl's face, "therefore, you can say you literally gave a piece of your aura to become powerful in magic; so, what do you say, dearie, do we have a deal?"

 _I've got no other choice if I want revenge_ , was the only thought Salem had before she crossed the point of no return, and gave the Dark One her answer by yanking out a piece of her brown hair, and placed it into the vial.

* * *

Mr. Gold's PawnShop

Storybrooke, Maine, Present Day

"It's been too long since we last saw each other, Dark One," Emma heard the mysterious woman say as she and Mr. Gold turned around to face her.

To her left she saw Mr. Gold chuckle and say, "It certainly has, Salem."

The pale woman slowly walked towards the two of them as she said, "Seeing you now, it brings up memories of that day when we first met in the woods outside my home, does that do the same for you?"

"Yes, dearie, I still remember the day when we met, and I saved you from the men that tried to kill you," Mr. Gold replied, and then inquired, "but I know you're not here to be reminiscing about the past, are you?"

Another chill went down as she saw Salem's eyes glow red as she lamented, "No, it's not; do you remember that day you left, when I made a promise that you wouldn't be able to escape next time we meet?"

"Oh, how could I forget your threats to destroy me?" the Dark One growled at the pale woman, "You made it pretty clear what you wanted."

Salem said nothing to him, but turned to Emma and said, "And who's this? Is this that little Saviour of yours that you created as your 'failsafe' for your Dark Curse?"

"I would be careful what you say, lady," Emma finally spoke up, earning a look of slight surprise from the woman.

"Wow, and she has some fire in her, too," Salem stated, and then turned to Rumplestiltskin and said, "If you seriously think that she can stop me from getting what I want, then you're mistaken, Dark One."

"What would you like, dearie?" Emma heard Mr. Gold inquire, not even showing a hint of fear in his voice.

"That, Dark One, is so simple to want," the pale woman declared, "I want that vial, the very one containing a piece of my soul in it."

 _A piece of her soul?_ Emma thought to herself as she heard Mr. Gold say, "I told you when we made that deal that it was irreversible, so what would you need with that piece?"

"My business with that vial is mine and mine alone, Dark One," the Grimm Hive Queen growled as her red eyes flashed with anger, "now I know you have it, and I need it, so hand it over."

"Actually, I don't have it," the Dark One interjected, "that vial went missing years ago, I had to find another way to get that ingredient for the Dark Curse."

"Don't lie to me, especially when you were the one that taught me how to sense a liar," Salem stated, and then smiled a wicked smile and said, "I can sense that vial in your pocket right now, and I know exactly what I'll do to get it."

"And what exactly, dearie, are you going to do?" Rumplestiltskin inquired, and the reply that Salem replied chilled Emma to the core.

"I'll give you within a month to give me that vial, and within that time until the vial is in my hands, this so-called, 'home', of yours will suffer attacks on two fronts," the pale woman answered with a hint of darkness in her voice.

"Are you seriously threatening to attack Storybrooke?" Emma spoke up once again, determined to stop the situation before it goes any further.

"Oh, my child, it'll be more than that," Salem threatened as she looked Emma directly in the eye, "every day until I get what I want, wave after wave of Grimm will attack your 'Storybrooke', but that is only one front. Like the Dark One, I've lived for so long that I know everything there is to know about humanity; their strengths, their technology, their weaknesses, everything that can be used to tear this little town apart from inside out."

"You won't get away with this, I won't let you," Emma declared, earning a sinister chuckle from Salem.

"You, a so-called 'Saviour', think that you can stop me, the most dangerous Hive Queen of any species threatening all the worlds currently existing?" the Grimm Hive Queen inquired with amusement, "No, this little town will be crushed to dust unless I get that vial, from my children and from the deepest and darkest secrets every single soul in this town has being revealed one by one."

"I wouldn't underestimate Ms. Swan if I were you, Salem," the Dark One interjected coolly, "she's been able to keep up with the likes of myself, and she's even helped to take down Hades."

"Sure, that might be difficult to surpass, but everyone has a secret that they don't want to be found, even your 'Saviour', or as I've heard, your 'Dark Swan'," Salem stated, earning a glare from Emma, "as for you, Dark One, there's a secret you've mentioned once, one that you never even told me in detail, and if there's one secret I'm looking forward to find out, it's yours. But, I might as well play fair, and I'll give you something right now to use as a way to ensure you make the right decision."

When the Dark One asked what she was offering, she pulled out a little pouch and said, "This contains some sand from the Temple of Morpheus, an element which as you told me once is an efficient way to wake someone from a Sleeping Curse."

As she tossed the pouch to him, Rumplestiltskin inquired, "You're giving me the way to wake up Belle, but I suspect there's more to it?"

"Just pour it over your wife and your unborn son (yes, I know about that too) and let your son do the rest to wake her up," Salem answered sharply, "but take heed, your wife has her own secret she's been hiding, and she won't be happy when she finds she can't hide it anymore."

Just before the Grimm Hive Queen disappeared back into the shadows, they heard her say, "You better hold your end of the deal, Dark One, for there will be no victory in strength."

Emma and Mr. Gold were silent for a moment before the former turned to the latter and asked, "Who is she; what the Hell was that about, Gold?"

"That, Ms. Swan, is probably going to be your most dangerous enemy yet," the Dark One replied solemnly, "Salem was the first person I taught to use magic, but in her quest for vengeance against those that done her wrong, my assistance turned an ordinary woman into the very source of the Grimm."

"What do you mean by that?" Emma quickly inquired, "Is there any way we can stop her?"

"Well, to answer your first question, one thing that few people really know is that the Grimm are all part of a hive mind, and Salem, unfortunately for us, is the Queen," Rumplestiltskin explained, "there is a sure way to defeat her, as I warned her one time that I always ensure a failsafe with any curse or deal I make, but at the moment no one here in Storybrooke fits that description."

"Well then, who exactly would we be looking for?" the Saviour asked, wanting to start as soon as possible, "Who could possibly be the only means against Salem?"

"Not much can actually stop her, but there's one family clan that are destined to effectively put her down for good," Mr. Gold replied with a knowing smile, "a clan of heroes that have been helping to fight the Grimm since the beginning of time in Remnant: a clan of warriors with silver eyes."

* * *

Regina's Vault

Storybrooke Cemetery

At the Same Time

It had been a week since Robin died at Hades' hands, not long enough for the former Evil Queen to recover from losing her soulmate. Regina had hid herself in her vault, quietly yet sadly mourning Robin, having witnessed the God of the Underworld obliterate his soul before her very eyes. She knew there was no possible way to bring him back, nor was there any way for her to move on from what happened. She blamed herself for what happened, maybe she could've convinced Zelena sooner to stop Hades, maybe she could've used her magic against Hades before he could kill Robin, but she knew that there was nothing she could've done. It was while she was blaming herself for the thousandth time that week when something curious happened. She heard a rustling coming from outside of the vault, followed by something hitting the wall at the bottom of the stairs with a loud thunk.

Curious as to what was going on, Regina walked towards wherever the noise came from, surprised to find what looked like a dagger stuck into the wall with a piece of parchment attached. Just as she managed to grab the parchment the dagger was yanked out of the vault with an invisible force, but when she turned to look no one was there. Carefully, thinking it might've been a trap, she opened the parchment and read what was written on it. Her eyebrow suddenly lifted in surprised when she recognised her own handwriting, not to mention that her own blood was used to write the words on it.

"So you did end up here," Regina thought aloud to herself, smiling as she knew the significance of the parchment.

There, on the parchment that she wrote on herself two weeks ago, she found and recognised four simple but important words referring to a promise that a friend she made had given to her, the words, "Thus kindly I scatter."

* * *

 **A/N:** That's chapter 2, folks. Our favourite Saviour finally meets Salem, but she probably had that coming because she did ask for a bad guy to face.

Firstly, whoever catches the reference I made to Harry Potter gets a cookie. Enough said.

Also, now we know what our villain is planning, along with some backstory. There's already magic in RWBY with the four maidens, so why not let Salem learn some dark magic from Rumple?

And I wonder who gave that parchment to Regina. For that answer, stay tuned...

Now for the next clue for Prophecy: along with villains already existing in the RWBY universe, there will be 3 villains that I created about the same time I created the OC to be featured in Prophecy. Tying in to the clue above, each of these villains will make their debut in the Prophecy chapters Animal I Have Become (by Three Days Grace); Riot (also by Three Days Grace); and Monster (by Skillet). Keep looking for clues, and get ready for the last clue in the next chapter of Team MJJK.

So, thank you so much for reading. If you liked this chapter, you know which buttons to hit to favourite/follow. Continue reading my other stories, and prepare for Prophecy's arrival soon. Thanks again for your support, and God Speed!


	3. Chapter 3: Thus Kindly I Scatter

**A/N:** Hello everybody, my name's Eragon and welcome back to another chapter of Eye of the Beholder. Now, my thanks to the first review of this story, finally got a review.

Anyways, this chapter is going to be a good one, since you guys get to see someone I guess you were waiting for ever since you noticed her name in the list of characters. The pairing I've made between Summer and Regina isn't going to come into play just yet, that might be a few chapters before that happens, but if you've seen all of OUAT Season 5 you can probably see why I'm pairing them. But like I said, that comes later.

As always, I own nothing but my OCs; RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP), and Once Upon a Time belongs to ABC Studios and both Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. Now, it's time to see the Evil Queen and a character we barely know anything about in RWBY to finally meet. Sit back and enjoy!

Chapter 3: Thus Kindly I Scatter

Granny's Café

The Underworld, One Week Ago

Regina sat in a booth at the underworld's imitation of Granny's Café, pondering over what she could do to help her friends and herself escape the underworld. It wasn't long after she and Zelena helped their mother pass on to a happier place, out of the underworld, and now her focus was on getting them out. Such as what she was thinking about, when a group of very demeaning men surrounded her table, anger present on all of their faces.

"May I help you?" Regina asked halfheartedly, getting the feeling that these men had some unfinished business with her.

"I definitely think you can help us," the leader of the group, an enormous man with a ridiculous handlebar moustache, replied, "you burned down our village and killed everyone inside a few years back."

"Really, now?" Regina stated, a hint of amusement that these men thought that they could take her on, "I might not remember that, but even so you're either very brave or stupid to approach the former Evil Queen like this."

The man suddenly yanked Regina to her feet, much to her surprise, and snarled, "Unfortunately for you we're carrying some special charms thanks to Hades, charms that cancel out any magic so long as we have them near someone who uses magic, so you're powerless now."

"I'm not sure if you've heard that I've changed sides," Regina said with a slight growl towards her predicament, "but we could've settled this situation without a problem, instead you chose the coward's way out."

"And what are you going to do about it?" the large man asked as he slowly drew back his fist, only for a slight snicker nearby to stop him in his tracks.

Turning to face whoever made the noise, Regina and the men about to attack her saw a white cloaked figure sitting on a stool at the bar, slightly glancing in their direction with a smile of amusement on their face.

"Nobody ever actually learns to man up, do they?" the figure thought aloud, causing the leader of the attackers to let go of Regina.

"I'm sorry, bub," the man growled at the newcomer, "you want to run that by me again?"

"You heard me, 'bub'," the figure replied, "only a coward would use such a backstabbing move like that, instead of fighting his opponent one on one."

"You have a problem with that?" the man said, quickly changing the focus of his anger to this mysterious stranger in the cloak.

"I definitely agree with the Queen there," the stranger said, "you're too much a coward to even consider fighting her fair, regardless if she's good or bad."

"Okay, now you're just pissing me off," the man grumbled as he signalled his men to surround the cloaked stranger, "you better hope your blades are as sharp as that attitude of yours."

"I'd be careful if I were you on who you pick fights with," the figure said as they faced the leader, silver eyes peeking out behind the cloak's hood, "tell me, how many soldiers have you fought?"

"Quite a few actually," the man said, somewhat confused by the sudden question, "most of them belonged to her, actually."

Regina listened intently as the stranger continued to pry, "And tell me, you 'masterful' coward, how many huntsmen have you fought in your travels?"

"What type of 'huntsmen' are you referring to?" the man inquired, "You certainly can't be referring to the ones that hunt deer and stock."

"I'm referring to the only proper type of huntsmen," the figure replied as they sat up, "the ones from Remnant, famous in all the lands for fighting monsters one would find in nightmares on a daily basis."

The men surrounding the large man backed away in shock, recognising the world that the figure was referring to, to which said figure laughed and said, "That's right, keep on picking a fight with me and you can see for yourselves how strong a real huntsman is."

Signalling his men to draw their weapons, the man snarled, "If you think you're so much better than us, bring it."

"Well, if it's a fight you're looking for," the stranger said as they unsheathed a pair of large daggers, "it's a fight you're going to get."

The goon closest to the huntsman lunged to attack, only for his eyes to widen in surprise as one of the huntsman's daggers pinned him to a wall and incapacitated him. With a flick of the huntsman's wrist the dagger flew back into their hand, allowing the huntsman to pull it back to block another attack. It seemed to be that the huntsman was moving at abnormal speeds, easily able to dodge attacks and knock out most of the attackers in a matter of seconds. With a back flip they threw one of the men through a wall, and within seconds they flipped again to hit another man in the back of his head. Soon the huntsman had all but the large man taken down, and even then they were able to take him down effortlessly.

"Not bad for someone that 'thinks they're better than you', eh?" the huntsman inquired as they pinned their opponent down.

"I'll be finding you later, that's for sure," the large man grumbled, angry at his easy defeat, "give me a face so I know who to look for later."

The huntsman tilted their head in curiosity towards the request, but complied, pulling of their hood and asking, "That good enough for you?"

To both the large man and Regina's surprise, instead of seeing the old and scarred face of a man, they were staring at the face of a beautiful young woman with pale skin and medium-length brown hair.

"Y-you're," the large man stammered in surprise, "you're a woman?!"

Before she knocked him unconscious with a punch to the jaw, the woman said in reply, "What is with everyone asking that whenever they find out that they had their asses handed to them by a girl?"

When the man was knocked out, the stranger lifted herself up, only to turn to Regina and ask, "You alright there, miss?"

"Yeah, you managed to catch them before they could actually hurt me," Regina replied, relieved that the situation was over before it even began, "Wait, you're from Remnant?"

"Yep, though it's not as rowdy as it has been down here," the woman replied as she went to shake Regina's hand, "name's Summer Rose, and from what I can tell from earlier you must be the Evil Queen."

"I'd prefer Regina Mills, thank you very much," Regina stated as she shook Summer's hand, "that's behind me now, so let's save that for later."

"So you're part of that group of living people helping others down here complete their unfinished business and move on, right?" Summer inquired, a hint of sorrow being heard in her voice.

"Yes, that would be us, we were trying to help a friend escape and come back," Regina replied, only to raise an eyebrow in curiosity and ask, "Why, do you have some unfinished business of your own?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Summer replied calmly, "though dealing with mine requires magic, and I don't really have any of my own, but perhaps you could help me."

Storybrooke Cemetery

Present Day

It took quite a bit of looking, but eventually Regina found the spot she was looking for. Near the outskirts of the cemetery was a cliff leading to the town line, and sitting at the edge of the cliff was a single gravestone. From the time she spent with the woman known as Summer Rose she recognised the emblem on the stone, a single rose engraved into the stone's surface; at the top was Summer's name, and underneath the emblem was a simple phrase: Thus Kindly I Scatter.

Silence reigned for a few moments as she seemed to stand there alone, only for a familiar voice behind her to say, "I told you that you'd find it here."

Regina turned in surprise, only to slightly relax when she saw the white-cloaked woman standing five feet away.

"Hello again, Summer," was all Regina managed to finally say.

Regina's Vault

The Underworld

"So, what type of magic are you looking for exactly?" Summer heard Regina ask her as they looked around the magical vault, looking exactly how Regina said it did back home for her.

"I'm not entirely sure, some sort of viewing spell or something," Summer replied, reminiscing about what she left behind, "maybe a magic mirror."

"Well, I've got this one here," Regina stated, and then decided to pry, "So, who or what are you looking for, and what do they have to do with your unfinished business?"

"My family," Summer replied solemnly, "I left my husband and our daughter (along with a daughter from his last relationship) behind when I died."

"I'm, really sorry to hear that," Regina declared softly, clearly not expecting the answer, "so you're unfinished business is just finding out if they're alright."

"Yeah, mostly my daughter," Summer said as she thought about her family, "Ruby was only two when I went on my last mission; I've been worried sick about whether or not she's okay, and because of that I've been unable to move on until I know if she is safe."

When the raven-haired woman asked how long ago did she die, Summer honestly replied, "I'm not entirely sure since time always runs differently in every world, but on Remnant it's probably been about a decade since I died."

"That's quite a long time to have left her alone," Regina stated as she grabbed a potion and a needle, "now, I might not be powerful enough to see across worlds, but these along with some of your blood might be enough for it to work."

Summer only winced slightly as the former Evil Queen pricked her finger, and following the directions she was given dripped her blood onto the surface of the mirror.

"There, this should do the trick," Regina finally said as she placed a drop of the potion onto the mirror, resulting in the reflective surface to appear cloudy and a bluish hue, "now, just think of who you're looking for, and the blood tying you to the mirror at the moment will show you where she is."

"Alright, I will," Summer said softly as she looked into the clouds and thought about her daughter.

 _Magic mirror, show me who I seek_ , Summer said inwardly, _I wish to see my daughter, my little Ruby Rose, to see if she's safe_.

For some time, the mirror was still cloudy, and then just when it seemed like it didn't work an image began to appear on the mirror. Summer recognised the cliff where her grave was, after all it was in the underworld for her to find and see what it looked like, and she could tell that it was winter due to all the snow on the ground.

For awhile Summer could only see the grave due to the murky image, but soon she saw movement next to the stone and cried out, "I see someone getting up from sitting...oh my Oum, it's her!"

Despite the fact that she was no longer a toddler, Summer could still recognise her daughter Ruby, having brown hair and silver eyes like her mother, though Summer noticed that the tips were dyed red.

"That's your daughter?" Regina asked as she watched the scene unfold, noticing the rather Gothic and red/black themed attire the girl was wearing, "She seems to like a lot of red, I see."

"She's always liked that colour, since her namesake is a shade of red anyways, and it looks like she was visiting me," Summer replied, but then gasped as her daughter walked away and said, "that's the cloak I made for her before I left, I can't believe she still has that!"

The scene soon changed to reveal Ruby walking into a clearing in the woods, only for the girl to stop walking and reach for something on her back.

"Oh dear, it looks like she's surrounded by Grimm," Summer said as she realised why Ruby had stopped, noticing that Regina didn't ask about the Grimm, "...yep, she's surrounded, a pack of Beowolves by the look of it."

Out the corner of her eye, she could see Regina raise an eyebrow as she asked, "Let me guess (since I know some things about the Grimm), that's the wolf-like ones, right?"

Summer nodded as a pair of the Beowolves lunged at the girl, only for Ruby to rapidly jump into the air behind them and pull out a red box-like structure.

"What's that she has there?" Summer asked, only to see Ruby start to fire at the Grimm and say, "Oh, it's her weapon! She must've made it at her combat school (probably Signal)!"

Shot after shot Ruby fired from her weapon, which to Summer seemed to be some sort of sniper rifle, taking down quite a few Grimm. That is, it seemed to only be a rifle, until it turned into a weapon take took Summer by surprise.

"I can't believe she made that all by herself," Summer muttered under her breath as the rifle turned into a massive war scythe, which her daughter then used to slice an attacking Beowolf in two, "It looks to me like her uncle might've influenced her weapon, that dusty old crow."

"I'm not even going to ask," Regina stated as the girl continued to slice apart the Grimm, slowing down only slightly when a Grimm knocked her across the ground.

Ruby didn't even react in shock to the hit, just smiled as she loaded a cartridge into the scythe.

"What's she doing now?" Regina asked, both women confused by the action, only to get a surprise as Ruby continued to slaughter the monsters.

"She's only fifteen years old and she has her semblance already?!" Summer managed to stammer in surprise at the speed her daughter was now zipping through the pack.

"Semblance?" Regina inquired, her eyebrow raised in interest.

"Special natural ability unique to everyone whose unlocked their aura (the manifestation of one's soul)," Summer briefly explained, "well, most of the time it's unique, but some semblances are hereditary; for example, the women on my side of the family have a semblance that allows us to move at enhanced speeds."

"Enhanced speeds," Regina thought aloud as they continued to watch the scene unfold, "So that's how you were able to defeat those men so quickly."

Summer didn't answer, focusing on her daughter, who was now standing in the midst of disintegrating Grimm corpses as bullet shells fell to the ground. The image vanished afterwards, and Summer turned to Regina and did the only thing she knew could express her gratitude: she pulled Regina into a hug.

"Thank you so much for helping me," Summer finally said after a moment of hugging the other woman, "I don't know if I can ever repay you!"

It took awhile for Regina to break out of her surprise, but eventually she said, "No problem, I know how difficult it is to leave someone close to you behind or to have lost them."

As Summer pried, Regina explained about those times she experienced loss, everything from watching Daniel die to losing her foster son Henry not once, but twice.

"Okay, that last one I'm not going to ask how that even happened," Summer said softly, "but, now that I think about it, there could actually be some way to repay you later."

When Regina asked what she meant Summer said, "I only heard rumors back when I was alive, but the rumors said that some heroes that died were given a second chance at life after leaving the underworld; I'm not sure if that is true, but who knows; for all you know, you might see me again, and if that happens I'll repay you."

"That actually sounds like you'd be getting a good deal if they're true," Regina said, and after some thought grabbed a piece of parchment and said, "just in case, we should make a plan for that, so that if it does happen you can contact me."

Woods Outside of Storybrooke

"So the rumors were true, were they?" Regina inquired, a hint of sadness easily heard in her voice.

"I guess so," Summer replied softly as they walked through the woods, "after I went into the light in that cave, I was approached by Oum (my god, or Zeus as some people know him); he spoke to me, said that if I continued to follow that light I'd be in a good place, so I followed the light like he said and ended up here a couple days ago."

"That's really good to hear," Regina said halfheartedly, "at least you were rewarded with a second chance...though I don't know if you can help me at the moment."

"Why, what happened?" Summer inquired, stopping their progress through the trees, "Did you lose someone again?"

"You know how I told you about Robin back in the underworld?" the former Evil Queen asked, and when the huntress nodded in reply she explained, "He's gone; Hades ended up coming back with us, and he had an Olympian Crystal; he tried to use it on me when we went to save my sister's baby from him and stop him from killing people, but Robin jumped in front of the blast; his soul was obliterated, no way to pass on, he's just...gone."

With that Regina broke down in tears, no longer able to hold it together for as long as she had for part of the day.

For the second time since they met, Regina was surprised from yet another hug by the huntress.

"It's okay, it's okay, just let it out, I know how you feel," Summer said softly as she embraced Regina, "I know it's difficult since you lost him recently, but eventually you'll move on."

"I-I don't know if I can," Regina managed to stammer between tears, "everyone that's gotten close to me I've lost one way or another; I lost Daniel, I lost my mother, Henry was taken away from me twice, and now Robin's gone; I don't know if I can choose anymore between being bad and being alone, or being good and losing everything."

"No, don't say that," Summer stated, attempting to calm the other woman down, "you still have your friends and your son, so you'll never be alone, and so long as you're not alone you'll get through your pain."

"How can you say that?" Regina declared, lashing out at the huntress in her grief, "You don't know me, you've only known me for a day! You don't know how it feels to be alone, how empty it feels to lose everything, how terrible it feels to watch as everyone close to you slips away!"

Whatever Regina was expecting Summer to do, whether it be continuing to attempt to calm her down or berate her for overreacting in grief, it certainly wasn't what happened next. Without warning she found herself pinned against a nearby tree, the point of one of Summer's daggers being held against her throat.

"Listen to yourself, Regina, you're letting your grief cloud your judgement," Summer suddenly growled in frustration, a hint of anger showing in her eyes, "What part of 'I know how you feel' did you n fucking understand?!"

"Go ahead, do it," Regina solemnly said after a few moments, "I won't be in pain anymore if you do it."

"That's not the right way to help you, Regina," Summer stated, refusing to move the dagger any closer or farther from the former Evil Queen's neck, "I'm going to help you, but first I need you to shut up and listen to what I have to say, got it?"

Regina was silent for some time, shocked at the huntress' sudden outburst, until she finally sighed and reluctantly said, "Fine."

"First of all, you think you've lost everything?" Summer stated as she shifted slightly, the frustration in her eyes replaced with a look of pure unadulterated pain and longing, "You haven't Regina, I have. I died; I left my family behind to go on a mission and never returned because I was killed in action. I left behind my husband, the man I loved, alone with our two daughters to care for by himself; I'm never coming home, I'll never be there to comfort Ruby whenever she needs it, they're never going to see me again. I have been where you are now, Regina, the first two weeks I was in the underworld I cried because I knew I'd never see them in person ever again, but I stopped crying after those two weeks, you know why?"

When Regina only replied with a shake of her head, Summer continued, "I stopped doing exactly what you're doing now, crying over those I've lost, because I knew that eventually my family would move on from my loss and so should I; I knew that the only way I could be at peace for leaving them behind was to not look back, to not give up just because I was dead, to keep moving forward. If you give up Regina, if you were successful in ending your story in that way, you're only going to hurt everyone that is still close to you and make them wonder what they did; you know you need to move on, Regina, otherwise you'll never be happy."

 _I can't believe I forgot that she told me that a week ago, I should've remembered that_ , Regina mentally kicked herself in realisation before she finally said, "You're right, I'm sorry, it's just that...it hurts without him here."

"It's okay, I know that it hurts," Summer declared softly, all traces of pain gone as she released Regina from her grip, "but you can, and will, move on; whether you're right about Robin's soul being destroyed or not, I believe that he might actually be in a better place, and so should you."

As she lifted herself off of the tree and dusted off her jacket, Regina thought to herself, _She's right, how could I have even thought about leaving Henry, and everyone else, behind like that?_

"So, now that's over for now," Summer said as she sheathed her dagger, "let's head to that café in town (Granny's, I believe it's called). I've noticed that they make some really good lasagne here, and we can also get some coffee or something."

With that, they continued to walk into town, not bothering to notice that it was beginning to snow.

 **A/N:** And that was Chapter 3 of Eye of the Beholder. I think that was a good chapter, how about you?

So, I figured that after what happened to Robin at the end of Season 5, if I were to pair Regina with anyone for this story it would be with someone whose gone through loss of their own in RWBY. And who better could it be than someone that literally died and left their family behind. I always see in some RWBY fanfics how Ruby and her sister and family reacted to Summer's death, but I've been curious about how Summer would react knowing that she can't go back to her family, which is why she's here.

Also, for anyone that's wondering, I have heard those points that Summer said during that confrontation said before when good people (mostly in fiction, but definitely happens in real life) attempt (and most of the time succeed) to stop people close to them from committing suicide. That got very dark for a bit there, please don't be killing yourselves guys.

So, that's about it. I probably won't be posting until after the holidays, but you will see me then. When you do see something from me, it won't be a chapter of Team MJJK, but will be the first chapter for a new story I'm making called Rise. It's going to be about the White Fang, so listen to Samuel L. Jackson and "Hold onto your butts!"

Anyways, you know what buttons to hit if you liked this chapter. Don't forget to read my other stories, and prepare yourselves for Rise to begin. Happy holidays everyone, Merry Christmas, thanks again for the support, and God Speed!


	4. Chapter 4: Divide

**A/N:** Hello everybody, my name's Eragon and welcome back to Eye of the Beholder. This chapter's going to be interesting, but before that I have a review to reply to.

Slop to steep: Thanks for the kindness. I can see what you're talking about with the whole Summer and Ruby thing, and yes it does look like Summer has red tips in her hair in that old Team STRQ photo back in V3. To be honest though, I know that the wiki says Ruby's hair is black and red, but I guess from a certain point of view it's a very dark brown, at a stretch. Also, I'm calling b.s. that the red tips are natural, it's most likely that it's hair dye, considering that nobody naturally has hair tips a different colour than their actual hair.

Anyways, this chapter will bring back Salem, considering that she was missing last chapter, and will of course show off the first day of her training with dear old Rumple! I hope you guys enjoy this one. As always I own none of the characters; RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP, especially since the anniversary was yesterday!), and OUAT belongs to ABC Studios and both Anthony Horowitz and Andy Kitsis. Sit back and enjoy!

Chapter 4: Divide

Granny's Diner

Storybrooke, Present Day

"So, this is Storybrooke," Summer said as she drank her coffee at the booth she sat in, "I can already tell from being here for a couple days that it's pretty cozy."

"That's only a couple of days, though, try being here for over thirty years," Regina stated, having calmed down after the conversation she had with the huntress fifteen minutes ago and feeling much better.

"Thirty years, and you only look like you're in your late twenties?" Summer interjected in slight surprise, "In that case it must be very cozy."

"Well, when there's no-one or nothing threatening to destroy the town, it's as comfortable as a little town can get," Regina said after swallowing a piece of her apple pie, "considering that pretty much happens once or twice a month, those cozy moments are a relief, especially now that we've defeated Hades."

"Be careful what you wish for, after spending years in the Underworld I'd prefer to take a break for once," Summer jokingly stated as she glanced out a nearby window.

"Speaking of which, and I'm sorry for asking," Regina inquired curiously, "what was life like, back in Remnant?"

"Not a big deal, I haven't talked about it much so obviously you'd be curious," Summer replied solemnly, her eyes glazing over in remembrance, "I grew up on a little island called Patch (just west of Vale, actually), and when I was seventeen I began to attend one of the huntsmen academies, a prestigious school called Beacon. I was the leader of Team STRQ, we were the best team of our generation. When I left on that fateful mission, my team had split apart, my husband (as I said before) stayed at home with our daughters, while the other two mostly went on their own ways."

"What was he like, your husband?" Regina asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well, Tai was a bit of an oaf, but he was a lovable oaf," Summer said with a slight smile, "blonde hair and, oh, he had such dreamy blue eyes, he was the kind of person that you knew without even meeting him that he had a good heart."

"Well, I'm sure that he'll never forget you," Regina said softly, her eyes watering as she thought back to those she lost, "I'm sorry again for bringing it up."

"Don't be, there's nothing I can do about leaving them behind, things happen," Summer stated kindly, "I just hope that maybe I can find peace here in Storyb-"

Before Summer could even finish her sentence, the bell to the diner rang, and Regina saw Emma rush into the diner and head straight towards them.

"Hey, you busy?" the blonde Saviour asked as she reached their booth, "I've been trying to find you for half an hour and...wait, who's your friend Regina?"

"Well, Emma, this is Summer Rose, I helped her last week in the Underworld, Summer, this is Emma Swan, our local Saviour," Regina quickly introduced the two women, but then narrowed her eyes and asked, "Wait, why were you looking for me exactly?"

"We have a problem, someone new's in town," Emma began to rapidly explain, "all I know is that she has past ties with Gold and is threatening to destroy Storybrooke unless he gives her what she wants."

"Just when I thought I'd be able to relax for once," Summer muttered under her breath before she turned to Emma and said, "any idea of what this person wants, if I may ask?"

"I don't know, something about a soul," Emma replied, one eyebrow raised at the woman's curiosity, "one moment I was just talking with Gold about how boring it was getting here, next thing we know this raven like creature lands on my shoulder; he killed it and explained it was something called a Grimm and then she appeared out of nowhere and-"

"Wait wait wait, back up a moment," Summer suddenly began to inquire, and Regina could see a look of recognition in her eyes, "did this 'Gold' say what type of Grimm it was?!"

Confusion was evident on the blonde Saviour's face as she replied, "Yeah, he said it was called a Baby Nevermore-"

"And this woman," Summer continued to interrogate as she stood up, the recognition quickly turning to fear, "did she have white hair and pale skin? Was she dressed in black and have red and black eyes, did she even give her name?"

"Uh, yeah all of them," Emma stated, certainly concerned about this sudden reaction, "she said her name was 'Salem', why, do you know her?"

Summer eyes were wide with fear as she darkly said, "Oh shit, it's her!"

"Wait, you know this woman?" Regina inquired out of curiosity, not sure if she should be worried about whatever the silver-eyed huntress would do next.

"Oh, I know her alright," Summer replied as she turned to Emma, "she's been a threat to all of humanity on Remnant since the beginning of time, and believe me if she's here you're all in trouble; you're going to need some help."

"Are you asking to help us or something?" Emma began to ask but was interrupted by Regina.

"All you need to know right now Emma is that Summer's a huntress," Regina explained rather quickly as she stood up, "those Grimm creatures threaten humanity every other week, and it's the job of huntsmen and huntresses to combat them."

"I know what she's like better than most of you, and I know what she's capable of," Summer stated as she looked Emma right in the eye, "and if this 'Gold' knows anything about her, then he should know if there's a way to stop her, please take me to him."

Unknown Location, Remnant

Years Ago

"So, now that I know what you're capable of I can teach you how to master it, as well as how to use dark magic," the Dark One stated as he and his new protege walked through the forest around them.

With her green eyes Salem glanced around at the scenery, noting that while it was beautiful there seemed to be a sinister feel to it, and as they walked she decided to ask, "Where are we going exactly?"

"Somewhere that technically I've never been to, but a previous Dark One before me has," Rumplestiltskin replied cryptically, not even looking back at her, "the birthplace of one of Remnant's three main species."

Confused by the statement, the young woman decided it was probably better to wait than to ask what he meant, so she remained silent. Soon, however, she noticed that the scenery seemed to change, and what it changed to unnerved her slightly. The blue sky was rapidly replaced with a colour that could only be described as blood red, the green grass and trees were replaced with dark-coloured stone and what looked like enormous crystals seemed to reach out of the ground.

"What is this place?" Salem breathed, fear and awe filling the woman at the same time.

The Dark One was silent as they reached a cliff overlooking a canyon, but soon he turned to her and said, "I'm sure you've heard the story of the two brothers, the gods that supposedly created life on Remnant and created mankind?"

Salem nodded, knowing the story of the God of Light and the God of Darkness and how man was born, as Rumplestiltskin continued, "Well, the youngest brother, the God of Darkness, was actually a Dark One by the name of Zoso, there was a Saviour by the name of Oum that was indeed the God of Light, and was his older brother; they did give life to humanity on this world, but of course Zoso had created a species before mankind was even born, barely a day before. This species was birthed from dark magic, and was born to do one thing and one thing only, destroy life; I'd name them, but I have a feeling you know what I'm talking about."

Salem thought for a moment about what he said before her eyes widened as she said, "Are you saying what I think you're saying, Dark One?"

"Oh, yes I am, dearie," the Dark One said cheerily as he stepped to the side to let her see into the canyon, "this very place is the home and birthplace to one of the most vicious species of monsters ever known throughout the worlds; this, is the birthplace of the Grimm."

Salem gasped silently as she looked at what was below the cliff; she could see a series of black pools dotting the hard ground, dozens of pools as far as she could see. What really caught her attention, though, was what was coming out of the pools, every few seconds another Grimm climbed out of whatever pool it was birthed from, followed by another and yet another after that.

"I'd be careful right now if I were you," Rumplestiltskin stated as he began to climb down the side of the cliff, "they sustain themselves on and can sense negative emotions, and right now they can sense your fear."

 _Relax, Sally, he's here to help you_ , Salem thought to herself as she followed him down to the bottom, _even if it means walking amongst dozens of Grimm_.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a creature of Grimm prowling slowly towards her, a Beowolf, if she could recall from the stories of hunters in her village.

"Looks like this one is curious about you, dearie," the Dark One stated calmly as the Beowolf came closer, "as long as you keep calm, he won't attack, just probably take a whiff to see if you're worth troubling."

The Beowolf continued to follow them as they headed towards a small clearing, before long it was joined by the rest of its pack. Salem honestly expected them to lash out, to kill them both on the spot, but surprisingly enough they didn't.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Salem asked, curiosity honestly getting the better of her.

The Dark One laughed childishly and replied, "Well dearie, it should be considered that, since they were born from darkness, they won't attack the very thing that created them; they also won't attack you either due to two reasons, mainly because I've commanded them to not attack. Even if I wasn't in control they still wouldn't attack you, after all, you're missing a part of something that makes you human."

"You're not saying that I'm already missing part of my soul, are you?" Salem inquired nervously, unsure as to how she should feel about that.

"That was part of the deal dearie, and this vial you tied yourself to is indeed filling up with that negative emotion as we speak," the Dark One said as he revealed the little vial, which already had what looked like a drop of a blackish-red liquid inside.

"So you're saying that they won't attack me because of that vial," Salem breathed as a Beowolf, the same one from before, stalked over and began to sniff her.

She could feel its hot breath on her face as it examined her while Rumplestiltskin continued, "Oh, but it's more than that dearie, and now here comes the first part of your training; give this fella here a command (not out loud, mind you), and if I'm right he'll do exactly as you say."

"Alright," Salem said as she looked into the Grimm's crimson eye, and then closed her eyes and thought, _Down_.

Salem didn't know for certain if it would work or not, or if anything would happen, but to her surprise, it did. Slowly opening her eyes, she was surprised to hear the Beowolf give a pitiful whine as it went on its back haunches and bowed down in front of her before laying down on the ground.

"I told you it would work, dearie," the Dark One declared as she slowly reached out to touch the Grimm.

Instead of biting her hand, the Beowolf calmly let the young woman closer as she placed her hand on its muzzle and began to slowly stroke its fur.

She could hear Rumplestiltskin chuckling behind her as she pet the beast, and soon he said, "See, now you've got yourself a friend and an ally, imagine what you could do once you've mastered your magic and your semblance."

"I-I'd have, I'd have an army," Salem spoke aloud with slight joy, "I wouldn't be alone anymore!"

"Exactly, dearie," the Dark One said, his voice turning sinister, "now, what do you wish to do now that you have this new power?"

The young woman glanced up at her tutor, and though she couldn't see it now Rumplestiltskin could see that something now had changed. Later on in his life he could say that seeing what he saw in her that day was enough to send chills down anybody's spine, but still there was more to come.

Her eyes, which just moments ago were green, had now turned blood red as the young woman growled, "At last I'll be able to fight back against those who hurt me, at last, I'll have my revenge."

Charming Family Residence

Storybrooke

Present Day

Summer had a sneaking suspicion as to who this 'Gold' person was, but she decided to keep silent for now and find out, figuring that if he was who she thought he was then these people in this town already knew as well.

"I'll admit, this is a rather nice loft," Summer said aloud as she first stepped into the apartment, the warm colours of the kitchen and living room standing out to her.

"Well, that's my parents for you," Emma said as she stepped in behind her.

It took a while for people to arrive, but soon Summer was introduced to everyone in the little Charming family group. There was Emma's son Henry, her parents Snow White and David Charming (who oddly enough didn't look any older than Emma herself), Emma's boyfriend Killian (who looked like a pirate, for obvious reasons), and Regina's sister Zelena. The only one missing was Mr. Gold, who she learned when she asked that he was the landlord of the entire town.

"I don't think I've been to Remnant before," Zelena said as they were waiting, "what's it like there?"

"Believe me, it's pretty similar to here in Storybrooke," Summer replied nonchalantly, "in fact I've noticed the past couple of days that some of the technology and, heck, even the media is similar here to how it is back home; I even recognise some of the movies that sit in the corner stores as having been on Remnant as well."

"Wow, it must be peachy," the former Wicked Witch muttered in slight amazement.

"Well, it is whenever we aren't worried about the Grimm prowling outside our kingdom walls," Summer stated as she took a sip from the cup of tea provided to her, "which luckily isn't that much, mostly just a few breaches here and there."

"Okay, I spoke too soon did I?" Zelena breathed uncomfortably, unsure as to what to say about that.

To Summer's right Regina snorted and said, "You asked about it."

"What, I can't talk to my sister's new girlfriend?" Zelena said jokingly, causing Summer to nearly choke on her tea.

"Dammit Zelena, I just said it isn't anything like that!" Regina growled under her breath in embarrassment, both her and Summer blushing at that surprise comment.

"Relax, I was kidding," Zelena said with a chuckle as she turned to leave, "though I'm sure little Robyn wouldn't mind if you did move on and give her another aunt."

Summer of course almost choked again before clearing her throat and saying, "Well, that just happened. Let's pretend that never happened and get back to waiting for Mr. Gold."

"No need to wait anymore, now that I'm here we can begin," Gold suddenly said as he walked up behind Regina, "I believe you're the one I just heard about, the huntress from Remnant?"

"Yes, that would be me," Summer said as she went to shake his hand, "Name's Summer Rose."

"Well Ms. Rose, I'm Mr. Gold, but back in the Enchanted Forest they called me Rumplestiltskin," the man said as he shook her hand, "and you have silver eyes, dearie."

"Yes, and I can tell from sensing your aura that you're the Dark One," Summer said wittingly, causing the Dark One to nod in agreement.

"Well, it's not like I've been hiding that anyways," Mr. Gold said as he turned to the others, "now that we're all here, let's get to business."

They all gathered into the small kitchen as he began, "So the reason why we've all been called here is because we have a new threat in town. For those who don't know, her name is Salem, she was a former apprentice of mine (like Regina, for example), and is far more dangerous than anyone else I've ever had the 'pleasure' to meet."

"How dangerous are we talking about?" Regina inquired, noticing the spite in Gold's voice, "What exactly is she capable of?"

"Considering that I've known her the longest, I can certainly answer that," Gold replied solemnly, "a master of dark magic just barely touching the level of a Dark One (such as myself), a high level of intelligence, and immortality to name a few. She's also an expert strategist and the hive queen of a vicious species of monsters known as the Creatures of Grimm, meaning she has an entire army for us to worry about; combine that with her semblance and combat skills and you have yourselves a difficult enemy to kill, let alone defeat."

"Okay, got most of that," Killian finally spoke up, having been sitting in the back drinking from a flask, "but what the bloody hell is a semblance?"

"Allow me to answer that," Summer stated before the Dark One could even reply, "a semblance is a special ability that most people on my world possess, unique between each person as it mostly depends on your personality as to what it could be; there have been few occasions where it's hereditary in a family bloodline but that doesn't happen very often."

"Now that sounds pretty useful if you have one," David said after a moment or two, "how exactly do you get something like that, by the way?"

"In order to get a semblance one must have their aura unlocked," Mr. Gold interjected in response, "aura is the manifestation of one's soul, and is something that most living creatures possess but must be unlocked in order to access it. When unlocked it functions as an invisible form of protection and can heal wounds to a certain extent, but once you've taken damage it takes time to repair itself."

"Alright, so that's cleared out of the way, but what's Salem's semblance?" Emma asked nervously, and from the look in her eyes Summer could tell that she wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Her semblance gives her control over the very shadows, over darkness," Gold replied, "it's what first caught my interest when I first met her, the main reason I decided to take her under my wing in the first place."

"So if you taught her dark magic, why is she here threatening Storybrooke?" Summer finally asked, hoping to get right to the source of the new situation.

"As part of the one deal we made, I took something important from her and for unknown reasons she wants it back," Rumplestiltskin replied calmly, "there's also the fact that she wants revenge for what I did to her the last time I helped her in her quest."

Before anyone could ask what he did exactly, a chill suddenly filled the air as a feminine voice chuckled and said, "By that, you mean you abandoned me."

They all turned towards the living room to see the same person they were just talking about standing before them, a baby Nevermore sitting on her shoulder. Considering that only herself along with Emma and the Dark One had met Salem before, it wasn't surprising to Summer that the others stared in shock at the queen's terrifying visage; her pale white skin and her black and red veins were illuminated by the kitchen light, and her glowing red eyes stared right back at them.

"'One must always watch their back at all costs, lest they be caught off guard by the opponent they didn't see coming'," Salem said softly as she walked into their midst towards Rumplestiltskin, "those were the exact words you told me time and time again, Dark One, yet you chose not to follow your own advice."

"Oh, I did figure you'd listen in though," the Dark One interjected harshly, "no matter how long you've lived you always were curious to know what your enemies were doing so you could think of ways to deal with them quickly."

"A skill that you taught me as well," she stated in a similar tone, pausing to calmly scratch underneath the Grimm's chin.

She then turned to the others and continued, "The last time I had been in dear old Rumplestiltskin's care, the cowardly fool decided to abandon me just when I reached my peak of power and was ready to begin my conquest of Remnant. Now that I've been reunited with my 'beloved tutor', I intend to gain back a vial containing something important that he stole from me, something that I need."

"In no way did I steal it, you made that deal with me and gave it away willingly," Mr. Gold interjected, earning himself a nasty glare from those burning red eyes, "you can't even put it back anyways, you know that."

"And as I said before, what I want with the piece of that soul is my own business," Salem responded without hesitation, and then smiled wickedly and continued, "Now listen well, all of you, I'm not leaving this 'Storybrooke' without that vial, and if I don't get what I want within one month my forces will level this town to ashes and kill everyone within. Give me the vial, and only after that will I leave, none of you have to die so long as I get what I want."

Having listened to this Summer finally had enough, and stepped forward to say, "Don't even think about listening to her, she'll burn this town down regardless if she even gets the vial or not."

It wasn't long before she could feel Salem's eyes on her as the Grimm Hive Queen declared softly, "Well well well, this is a surprise, Summer Rose. I thought that Ozpin's loyal pet was burning in the Underworld, yet I find you here alive and well."

"I was given a second chance by my God," Summer stated defiantly, looking Salem right in her blood red eyes, "something that you're not."

The queen chuckled slightly and in a sinister tone inquired, "And why would your 'God' send you here, exactly?"

"Well, you're here, so I guess that's why I'm here," the huntress replied calmly, any fear that she might've had earlier washed away, "even if I wasn't here, no pure soul is going to let you destroy their homes without a fight."

"I'd like to see them try, only two people in this room besides myself know how to stop me," Salem growled menacingly, "and don't forget that I know full well that you have a family back home, Rose, so either way you can sleep knowing that once this town has been wiped away, Remnant is next, and I will personally turn everyone you love into piles of dust."

"That's it, I'm gonna kill her," Killian shouted as he sprinted in an attempt to tackle Salem to the ground.

Before anyone could shout out a warning or even react, the sorceress' shadow lashed out on its own, grabbing his foot and throwing him against the kitchen wall furthest from her, rendering him unconscious.

Emma ran to Killian's side in a panic as Salem turned to her and said, "Don't you worry about your little pirate, he's merely allowed himself to be knocked out; he will live, but might have a nasty headache when he wakes up."

It was then that Regina snapped out of her shock and snarled, "How dare you come into this town thinking you can just get away with what you want; you're not getting away with anything so long as we're around."

Salem merely turned to her, and with a sinister grin just said four words, "You have two weeks."

With that the Grimm Hive Queen disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the group to themselves to figure out what to do now.

 **A/N:** So, that was chapter 4 of Eye of the Beholder. First of all, does anyone even notice what I've been doing with the titles of every chapter in this story? Let me know if you have.

Also yeah, that just happened. I agree with Summer on the whole be careful what you wish for thing (they never get a break in Storybrooke, do they?), one moment she and Regina were having a good moment the next thing they know they have to deal with Salem! I also hope you guys enjoyed the flashback with the Grimm. The entire idea of being able to have an entire army of monsters under your control is actually pretty bad ass if you think about it.

Now that I mention it, I just can't get this awesome image out of my head of Salem sitting on her crystal throne, with a Beowolf at her feet and a baby Nevermore on her shoulder. Wait, am I the only one that thinks that Salem is actually kind of similar to another famous baddie besides the Wicked Witch? Seriously, just replace the Nevermore with an actual raven and replace Salem with Maleficent, they're pretty much alike. By the way, somebody draw me a picture of that image I just mentioned above, I think it would just be perfect!

So, what did you guys think of this chapter? Anybody have any clues as to why Salem looks the way she does now and differently from what she used to look like? If you guys liked this chapter, hit that favourite/follow button. Don't forget to check out my other stories and give them some love as well. As always thanks for the support, and God Speed!


	5. Chapter 5: Seven Seals

**A/N:** Hello everybody, my name's Eragon and welcome back to Eye of the Beholder. I swear I've been so occupied with things the past couple of months, with the flu passing through my house a little over a month ago and I'm now an uncle, that I haven't been able to work on some of my stories until now, including this one. But before I let you guys in on what's going on with this chapter, here's my reply to this review.

Slop to Step: I wouldn't exactly call any relationship one could set up with Summer and a character from OUAT out of character, considering the fact that I just explained why I paired her with Regina back in Chapter 3. I also figured that it'd be a more interesting way to balance her out than what happens in Season 6 by pairing her up with someone who lost just as much, if not even more, than Regina did. Also we barely know anything about Summer, but if she's anything like Ruby there's no chance that she wouldn't move on (also if I didn't pair her up with anyone after Robyn's death I'd be chased by a whole bunch of Regina/Emma shippers demanding to put the shipping in, which I wouldn't anyways because Captain Swan is far better). Regardless of that entire paragraph of rambling, you are entitled to your own opinion, but you don't even need to worry about that pairing because it isn't coming into play for awhile.

Alright, now that's out of the way, let's get this chapter going! This chapter shall feature a character that hasn't appeared in this story just yet, but is one of my favourite characters from OUAT. Oh, and Salem is going to send her plans for Storybrooke into motion with this chapter. As always, I own nothing here, RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and Monty Oum (RIP) while Once Upon a Time belongs to ABC Studios and both Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. Sit back and enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5: Seven Seals

Hobbit Hole Tavern

Emerald Forest

A Few Decades Ago

It wasn't uncommon for a few royals to pass through most local taverns they come across, so not much people really reacted when they saw yet another couple with silver-embroidered cloaks walk into the Hobbit Hole on the fairly dark night. There was no point in trying to rob the couple though, one could clearly see that they might've been alone but were armed, so they were just ignored.

"Out of all the places we could've gone, you wanted to go to a random tavern in the middle of night," the first robed figure, a young woman with brown hair and eyes barely visible behind the hood, "remind me again why we're here, love."

"This is the only solution I could think of to solve our problem, darling," the nobleman said, glancing around the partly filled bar-room, "I sure as Hell wasn't going to dare bringing you to that Beast everyone keeps fussing about, but the woman we're looking for might be able to actually help us."

"And who exactly are we looking for to deal with this?" the noblewoman interjected quietly, not intending to draw any attention towards them, "I could've easily dealt with the Dark One's criticism if you don't, but no, you had to go looking for some random sorceress who we might not even find, and who exactly are we even looking for?"

"She's not just some random sorceress," the husband replied, sitting himself and his wife down in a corner to wait patiently, "she's believed to be pretty powerful witch from Camelot, almost as powerful or maybe more powerful than the Beast, and to be fair she's said to not give expensive prices like He does."

Just then a waitress with brown hair, green eyes and dark skin walked up to their table and asked, "May I take your orders?"

"Thanks, but we're good," the nobleman replied coolly, "but if we may ask, we're here looking for someone to talk some business, magic business to be precise, do you know if this person could be here?"

"Well, that depends on who you're looking for," the waitress answered with respect, "if you're referring to the Dark One then you should look elsewhere, but, if you're looking for the woman from Camelot, Morgaine, you are certainly in the right place."

"Alright then, we are indeed searching for a miss Morgaine le Fay, could you take us to her?" he inquired, only to be thrown off-guard by the waitress' response.

"In that case, you don't need to worry about finding her, in fact you already have," the waitress suddenly said with a devious smirk as there was a sudden flash of light and they found themselves in one of the rooms above the tavern.

"Sorry about that, I figured I should prove to you that I was the woman you seek," Morgaine, for that indeed was who this woman was, stated as she pulled out a few chairs for the nobles to sit on.

Shaking her head to clear out the shock the noblewoman glanced back at the sorceress and said, "So you are Morgaine le Fay?"

"Yep, that would be me, now usually I don't get visits from any higher-ups nowadays unless they prefer my help over the Dark One's," Morgaine simply replied, sitting down with the nobles, "the question is why would you need to visit me in the middle of the night."

"We're kind of desperate for help actually," the nobleman began to explain as calmly as possible, "see, we've been married for a couple of months and we're just now coming home to my castle, but my wife here's from another world and, well, I'm afraid of people treating her differently from everyone else."

"And why would they treat her differently, Sir?" Morgaine inquired out of curiosity, "You seem normal to me, I don't see how she would be treated differently, unless…"

Tilting her head to the side, the sorceress pondered for a moment before asking, "Ma'am, you're not by chance from a world called Remnant, are you?"

The noblewoman nodded cautiously, and with a slight hand motion from Morgaine she pulled back her hood.

"Okay, I can see why she'd be treated differently, it's very rare for any Faunus to show up in the Emerald Forest these days," the sorceress stated with a kind smile, pointing at the brown-furred cat ears perched on top of the noblewoman's head.

"Believe me, things haven't been going so well back home," the Faunus said softly, relieved that she wasn't being treated with hate by the sorceress, "when I left a year ago we were in the midst of a war that my brother's been fighting in for our kind."

"Oh, so you're a refugee, right?" Morgaine declared, a strange distant look forming in her eyes, "It's been awhile since I was last in Remnant, actually; but enough chat, I'm guessing you need something to ensure that you won't be discriminated by anybody?"

"Yes, that is what we would like," the nobleman replied almost nervously, constantly looking at the wooden clock on the wall, "I love my wife, regardless if she's human or Faunus, but I'm afraid of what the civilians my castle watches over will think if they see her with her ears (not that I don't love them myself, I do)."

"Ah, I see," Morgaine declared as she began to look through some of her potions in the room, "what you need is some sort of cloaking spell, and I think I have just that."

As she said this the sorceress pulled out a bottle holding a clear liquid, and poured some of its contents into a perfume bottle and continued, "Here, it won't be suspicious for any young woman here to carry some perfume on their person, therefore you'll be safe from suspicion."

"How much do we owe you, ma'am?" the nobleman asked as he began to pull out some gold coins, only for Morgaine to shake her head.

"For something that small, you don't need to pay me anything, take it for free," she stated as she offered the little bottle to the noblewoman, only to pull back slightly and continue, "however, before I give this to you, you must promise me one simple thing."

"Anything," the wife said desperately, earning a rather unreadable smile from the sorceress.

"It's simple, really," the sorceress stated with caution, "this potion is very potent and will last for days, and while it won't harm you it's still magic and can be abused. You only really need to reapply this once a month, so promise me that you'll only use this that amount of times and nothing more."

"I will use it only once a month like you said, I swear it," the noblewoman declared, willing to follow such simple instructions anyways.

"Good, you can use it then, and don't worry about it running out, I've put a charm on it so it won't run out," Morgaine stated as she handed over the perfume bottle, "oh, and don't forget, if in the future you two have a child and they're a Faunus, they might need to use the potion as well, just tell them what I told you."

"Thank you, thank you so much," the noblewoman said as she and her husband took turns shaking the hand of the sorceress, "I don't know what we would've done if the people didn't accept me for who I am."

"And I don't know what I'd do if they did worse than not accept her," the nobleman stated as they stood up to leave, "thank you."

"You're welcome," the sorceress said, but before they left she continued, "oh, one more thing."

Turning to her, they could barely see her eyes which started to glow slightly as she stated, "Don't abuse that potion; all magic does come with a price, regardless if I agree with the Dark One or not, and if you abuse that potion your family will have to pay a harsh price."

* * *

Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop

Storybrooke, Maine

Present Day

The first thing Belle could see when she opened her eyes was the back room of the pawn shop she and her husband owned. It took some time for her eyes to adjust to the bright light of the sun before she noticed her husband sitting in a chair next to the bed she had been sleeping on, his hands perched on top of his cane as he seemed to be praying for something.

She reached for his hands and grabbed onto them and softly said, "Rumple?"

"B-Belle!" the Dark One stammered, clearly caught off guard for a moment only to wrap his wife into a hug and say, "You're awake!"

"Rumple," Belle said as she returned the hug, tears forming in her eyes, "I can't believe you finally got me to wake up, i-it was so dark, and there was smoke and probably some fire-"

"It's okay, you're safe now," Mr. Gold said as he kissed her cheek, "I had some difficulty waking you up, and I had to search for any way I could wake you up, but I finally managed to save you, and I'm sorry for having treated you so poorly with everything that happened recently."

"Well, regardless of how you saved me, regardless if not everything you tried worked, you still did and I'm thankful," Belle said as she began to sit up, but then decided to ask out of curiosity, "so, what happened while I was out?"

Rumplestiltskin's smile almost immediately dropped as he sighed and solemnly replied, "Not good news I'm afraid, to sum it up Hades has been defeated but it came at a cost, Robin was killed during the fight, not to mention the fact that we have a new problem threatening to wreak havoc in Storybrooke."

"Robin's dead?" Belle inquired, concern overcoming her, "Regina must be hurting terribly, I should probably talk to her later."

"Yes, but right now let's head to Granny's and get you something to eat," the Dark One stated as he helped to stand her up, "You've been out for a couple weeks, you must be hungry."

"Yes, we should," Belle said, heading out of the backroom and they headed for the front door to the shop.

With that they headed for Granny's to relax and announce that she was awake, not noticing that a cloaked figure was trailing behind them, green eyes barely visible behind her brown hair covering her dark face.

It didn't take long before Emma and the others to hear about Belle's waking up, and before long a small party in Granny's began. They celebrated with some of Granny's homemade pies and lasagna, and it wasn't long before Belle was introduced to Summer by Regina.

"So you were under a sleeping curse?" Summer inquired after the situation had been explained to her, "It's extremely rare to have something like that happen in Remnant, so this is technically the first time I've heard about someone being put under that curse."

"Oh, it's only happened a couple times here, but back home for us it's common for someone to put one of their rivals under one," Belle stated matter-of-factly, surprised that the huntress was able to keep up with the conversation.

"Well, I guess I'm lucky then, I wouldn't want to find out what that's like," Summer said, bringing a small smile to the librarian's face.

"Believe me, it's not pretty," Snow interjected as she walked up to give her friend a hug, "watch out for the nightmares afterwards though, those can be worse."

Belle nodded thoughtfully as Snow walked back to where she previously was with her husband and their baby, but then a thought came to mind and she asked, "So if you're a huntress does that mean you have your weapon? I've met some people from Remnant before, so I've learned a few things about the academies and such."

Yeah, I always keep Trinity on me so I'm always prepared," Summer replied as she unsheathed one of the kunai daggers from its sheath on her leg, "regardless if I'm dead or not I'll always carry it on me, I'm still technically a huntress."

They spent the next few minutes talking with each other about their lives back home and how they like Storybrooke, and before long the party was over and people started to head home. Mr. Gold wasn't able to head home right away since he said he had business to handle, leaving Belle to herself.

 _It really was nice for everyone to come today to celebrate me waking up_ , the young woman thought to herself as she went to check on the town library, but as she reached the door she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Glancing around, she could see a cloaked figure across the street staring right back at her. It was light enough for Belle to make out the figure's brown hair and green eyes, and she was able to tell from their size that it was a woman. Her dark skin seemed to bring out her eyes, which to Belle looked like they were glowing. _Wait, is that who I think it is?_ Belle pondered as she caught herself staring, only to jump in surprise when David's truck drove by and the cloaked figure vanished. _No, it can't be_ , she shook her head and proceeded to unlock the door, _I must be imagining things, I would've seen her here before if she was_.

Entering the library, she began her usual job of sorting through and cataloging books to ensure they were in their proper place. Regardless if she wasn't incomplete ownership of the library she still took care of it, mostly as a hobby but something to do if there wasn't anything to do in the shop.

After what seemed like an hour the little bell above the door rang as Mr. Gold walked into the library and said, "Just woke up and you're already working."

"What, it's not like the books are going to dust off and sort themselves," Belle stated halfheartedly, slightly distracted as she thought about what she had previously seen.

"Okay, I can tell that something must be bothering you," Rumplestiltskin stated as he turned his wife to face him, "what's wrong, did something bad happen while I was busy, did you hear some bad news or something?"

"I-it's not that," Belle stuttered in reply, "it's just, I thought I saw someone familiar earlier, a friend of my mothers that I've met before back when my mother was still alive."

"Well, it might depend on who they are if I can recognize them or not," Rumple inquired out of curiosity, "do you remember their name?"

"Of course I remember, how could I forget someone like her," Belle said, thinking back on some rather fond memories, "she's helped my parents before I was born, and after I was they hired her as a court mage and as a nanny for me. She always made the best meat pies and, while she might've been bitter on occasion, she was really kind to me; it's sad that she left when I was 11, but to turn up here now doesn't make any sense."

As she finished she caught Gold staring at her, silent until he finally said, "Wait, meat pies - who was this court mage?"

"I believe it was something like Morgan," Belle replied as she thought back, "no, Morgaine, Morgaine le Fay, from Camelot."

Almost immediately the Dark One's eyes went wide with surprise for a brief moment, almost as if he recognized the name, before they narrowed in bitter anger as he suddenly growled, "There is only one person I know who has used an alias like that before, and she just happens to be here in Storybrooke."

* * *

Hobbit Hole Tavern

Emerald Forest

A Few Decades Ago

"Don't abuse that potion; all magic does come with a price, regardless if I agree with the Dark One or not, and if you abuse that potion your family will have to pay a harsh price," Morgaine stated as the nobleman and his wife exited her room, leaving her to herself.

Swiftly she turned to face the mirror that sat on the wall behind her, pondering silently to herself as she walked towards it, _So you are from the Emerald Forest, Dark One. I told you I would find you, and I have_.

Suddenly a small bird flew into the room from the open window and landed on her shoulder, what seemed to be a raven with a skull mask and blood red eyes; it cawed loudly as she reached up to pet it.

"Shush my child, we won't be able to get revenge on Rumplestiltskin just yet," the sorceress stated as she stared back into the mirror, "he's taught me well, after all, to not go into a fight without a plan; besides, even with this form he'll be able to recognize me anyways."

With that the woman removed the magical disguise with a cloud of smoke, revealing her white hair, deathly pale skin and blood red eyes as she said, "Now where's the fun in that?"

* * *

Gold Residence, Storybrooke

Present Day

"So let me get this straight," Belle finally said after letting her husband explain exactly what was going on, "you're saying that this new person threatening Storybrooke, Salem, is an extremely powerful sorceress who not only is in control of an entire army of monsters, and that you're the reason why she's here?"

"Believe me, of all the things I've done from before the first curse, the thing I regret the most is Her," Mr. Gold replied, glancing around cautiously as if expecting something to happen, "and I wish I could tell you that I wasn't also the one that helped her gain that power in the first place, but that would just be another lie that would be added onto the list of every time I've lied to you about anything."

"What exactly did you do, though, for her to hate you?" Belle inquired with a deep breath to calm herself down, "I mean, from the time I knew Morgaine she was so nice, you really must have done something terrible for her to want you dead."

"I'm the Dark One love, almost everyone has wanted me dead," the Dark One stated uncomfortably, "in all honesty, I was almost like a father figure to her and she trusted me deeply, and like everyone else I betrayed that trust and abandoned her. I can't explain how she wasn't bitter towards you when you were younger, but the Salem we know today is empty of all human emotions, and she said herself she won't be sparing anyone if she doesn't get what she wants."

"Then just give her the vial and she'll leave," Belle finally said after pondering silently, draping her arms around his neck, "if she's promised to hold up her end of the bargain, give it to her and she'll leave Storybrooke alone."

"I really wish it was that simple, Belle," Rumplestiltskin declared quietly, "after what I've done she's never forgiven me, never will, and odds are if I do follow through she'll either use it to show that she's bested me or kill us anyways."

Mrs. Gold sighed as she thought over his words, before she smiled and said, "We'll get through this, don't worry; I'm going to get ready for bed, you can close up shop."

With that the librarian headed towards the bathroom, leaving Mr. Gold to himself as he thought, _I hope she's right, Salem's proven to still be a handful regardless if she's my apprentice or not_.

The house fell silent, save for the sounds of water falling from the shower head, but without warning the caw of a crow could be heard as a sinister voice said, "She's grown into a smart and beautiful woman since I last saw her."

Slowly the Grimm Hive Queen walked into the room from the nearby shadows, a baby Nevermore sitting on her hand as she continued, "You know, I almost pity Belle, having to take care of a beast like you, regardless if you've changed or not."

"You always had the cruelest sense of timing, Salem," Rumplestiltskin growled as he whipped around to face his former apprentice, "I'd prefer if you at least gave us a bit of a break before you lash out with your tantrum."

"If it was indeed a tantrum then it would've been a well deserved one," Salem declared as she scratched the baby Nevermore's chin, barely glancing up at her former tutor, "so, how long have you two been married, if you don't mind me being curious?"

"A little over a year now, but I know for a fact that you're not here to make small talk, dearie," the Dark One replied as he glared darkly at the sorceress, "if you're here to get the vial, again the answer is no."

"I actually was thinking of getting that from you, but it seems you can still read me like a book," she interjected, stalking towards the fireplace, "but she is right you know, I will leave this town alone the moment you give me that vial, it's not like I need to attempt to conquer another world. Besides, unlike someone I know, I always keep my end of a bargain when it comes to deals."

"I'm sorry, was that supposed to be a threat?" Rumplestiltskin snarled as teleported directly in front of her, "You of all people should know that you don't threaten the Dark One."

Salem chose to stay silent, but it was what she uttered next that sent chills down Mr. Gold's spine, "Who said I need to threaten the Dark One to get him to do what I want, or even use the dagger, when I need simply threaten those closest to him instead?"

It didn't take long for Rumplestiltskin to realize the implications of what she said before he growled, "Stay away from my wife, she has nothing to do with this."

"I don't need to hurt Belle, I was actually referring to everyone close to you including her, but thank you for the idea," the Grimm Hive Queen chuckled sinisterly as with a wave of her hand an object appeared in her hands, "I'm sure you know what this is."

"Yes, that's Belle's perfume bottle," Rumple replied with a sneer, "what, you've descended to petty theft now?"

"Actually this isn't petty theft, this here is proof of what happens when you break a deal," Salem replied with a sinister smile, "there's no perfume inside this bottle, but in truth a cloaking potion that your wife has been using for most of her life, given to her parents by yours truly. Her mother had immigrated to the Emerald Forest from Remnant years ago and needed this, so I willingly gave it to her to use; but me taking this right now isn't to spite you, in fact I would've taken this from Belle anyways. This potion was meant to only be used once a month but for reasons that I can understand she's been using it once a week, and regardless of the reason it's still been abused so I must take it back."

"What do you mean a cloaking potion?" Rumple inquired out of curiosity, his eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What would my wife need to hide from me?"

"Well, you're the Dark One, I'm sure you've already answered that in your mind yourself," Salem replied as she turned to leave, "this is what happens when you break a deal with me, and you better deal with the consequences and tread carefully, for her fate is in your hands."

Just as Salem vanished there was a cry of panic coming from the bathroom upstairs, followed by his wife shouting over and over, "No, no, no, no!"

The Dark One sprinted up the stairs, concern heard in his voice as he said, "Belle, are you alright in there?"

When she replied with a startled "Don't come in!", he decided that he might as well deal with the consequences and magically broke down the door.

Luckily Belle was dressed and unharmed, but that wasn't what caught the Dark One's eye; what did catch his eye, however, was the pair of cat ears perched on top of Belle's head.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, that was Eye of the Beholder Chapter 5, and yeah, that just happened. Considering the fact that the character in RWBY based off of Belle is a Faunus, who honestly was surprised that I would consider making Belle one as well? Seriously, it might've been predictable, but I'll be surprised if someone says they didn't expect it.

Anyways, looks like Salem's putting her plans into motion with this revelation, and believe me it won't end there. Things are going to get hectic, so hold on tight because the roller-coaster is just reaching the peak! Also, I seriously want to know if you guys even notice what I'm doing with the titles of each chapter. I don't mind if you don't notice it, but to clarify every two chapters the titles will switch from being quotes from RWBY to quotes from the Book of Revelation (Because why not?). If you did notice that, then you can get an idea of how dark this might get (I'm quoting the Book of Revelation for crying out loud!).

Thank you all so much for your support with my stories. Sometime the next three weeks or so you'll get new chapters of Rise and Fire From The Stars, and I'm absolutely looking forward to the next chapter of Prophecy, just wait and see. So, if you liked this chapter and want to see more, please hit those favourite/follow buttons and go check out my other stories, especially Lour Than Words, my first Fruits Basket story. Thanks again for all your support, and God Speed!


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